She wouldn’t let go of her grip on power and he would use any weapon he could to hurt her. Cimmeria was one such weapon – Lucinda loved the school and was personally connected to it. Her family was another. He’d already convinced Allie’s brother, Christopher, to join him. Now he wanted Allie, too. And he would do whatever it took to get her. Lucinda and Isabelle had decided she wasn’t safe at Cimmeria any more – and that her presence endangered everyone there. So early one morning, she and Rachel climbed on to Lucinda’s private jet and left, without a clue where they were going.
It turned out their first stop was Switzerland, where they were driven to the mountain estate of a Swiss billionaire who was an old family friend of Lucinda’s. They’d been given separate, palatial suites but stayed in each other’s rooms every night. Neither of them wanted to be alone. A nurse had come to see them every few days to change the dressings on their wounds; check their stitches.
After a few weeks, they’d been told to pack and they’d boarded the jet again. This time they’d ended up at a vast mansion in Croatia. There, they were greeted by stacks of homework and a letter from Isabelle telling them it was time to get to work.
Croatia had lasted only a couple of weeks.
When they’d been told to pack again, they hadn’t actually minded. The big Croatian house had been oddly empty – no one lived there but them, the housekeepers and guards. It had echoed when they talked.
After that they’d spent a few weeks in Germany in a hyper-modern house as big as a hotel where the blinds shut by remote control and they’d never figured out how to make it work. The place after that was Sylvain’s house.
‘And then Nathaniel found us.’ The memory of that hot afternoon – how close they’d come – made her stomach flip. ‘If it wasn’t for Sylvain—’
Zoe jumped to her feet, cutting Allie off. ‘There’s Lucas. I have to go.’
And just like that she was gone, darting across the lawn to where a group of students were warming up for a game of football.
Wounded, Allie stared after her.
‘Am I that boring?’ She kept her tone light but it did hurt a little.
‘She’s missed you,’ Nicole said gently. ‘And you know how she is with emotion. She doesn’t know how to tell you what she feels.’ She looked over to where Zoe was kicking a ball with unnecessary force. ‘I think she’s upset about what happened to you. It’s … hard to tell.’
‘I know.’ Allie shrugged. ‘I don’t mind.’
But that wasn’t true at all.
‘So …’ Nicole plucked a wild daisy with a long stem from the edge of the lawn. Then another. ‘You and Sylvain …?’
She raised her eyebrows.
Heat flooded Allie’s face and she hurried to find more daisies to add to Nicole’s collection.
She thought about that moment in the sea just before the gunshots. She’d been certain he was about to kiss her. But he hadn’t.
She handed Nicole a flower. ‘Sylvain and I are friends.’
She emphasised the last word.
‘Hmmm.’ Nicole began braiding the daisy stems together, forming a fragile chain. ‘It’s good to be friends.’
Her tone was non-committal but Allie could tell she was disappointed.
Allie decided to switch the topic back to safer ground.
‘So Nathaniel really hasn’t tried anything here since I left?’
Nicole shook her head. ‘Lucinda is fighting with him in London in meetings rather than here with knives but …’ She looked at Allie, her dark eyes serious. ‘I think she is not winning.’
Her words sent a chill through Allie.
If her grandmother lost, Nathaniel would take over the school and the entire organisation. Isabelle would go. Everyone who really cared about Allie would be gone. She’d have to leave the school. Or stay. And be part of Nathaniel’s sickening plans.
‘Enough sad talk.’ Nicole said decisively. ‘This is too depressing for your first day back. We will not lose today.’
Kneeling, she draped her daisy chain atop Allie’s hair, a crown of flowers.
‘There.’ A satisfied smile brightened her perfect oval face. ‘Now you look like a fairy princess. Queen Allie of Cimmeria Academy.’
She pretended to bow.
Allie was genuinely touched by this gesture.
‘Thank you, French peasant.’ She gave a regal wave. ‘You may rise.’
Laughing, Nicole leaned back on her heels to study her. ‘You look good in a crown.’
Someone called to her from the front steps and she climbed to her feet, shading her eyes with one hand as she peered towards the front door.
‘It’s Isabelle,’ she said, glancing down to where Allie sat straightening her flower crown. ‘I’ll go see what she wants.’
‘You have my permission,’ Allie said, still playing queen. ‘Sally forth and report back.’
As Nicole hurried off, though, she called after her: ‘Tell Isabelle I need to talk to her.’
But neither Nicole nor Isabelle seemed to hear her.
The two disappeared inside the school building. The door closed, and the guard resumed his place outside it, staring out over the grounds intently.
Why didn’t Isabelle want to see me? Is she too busy to talk about guns? And Nathaniel?
She leaned back on the grass, considering her options. She could run after them and insist that Isabelle explain what the hell was going on. She really could.